


Eight Days of Luke

by punsandships



Category: In Other Lands | The Turn of the Story - Sarah Rees Brennan
Genre: Christmas, Hanukkah, Pre-Relationship, SRB made a post about Elliot and gifts and my hand slipped, Winter Solstice, holiday fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28096521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punsandships/pseuds/punsandships
Summary: Luke's always given gifts to the people he loves. Elliot makes it difficult, but not impossible.A Hanukkah + Winter Solstice + Christmas fic cause the weirdo table all celebrate different winter holidays.
Relationships: Elliot Schafer & Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle & Luke Sunborn, Elliot Schafer/Luke Sunborn
Comments: 32
Kudos: 57





	1. Day -1

**Author's Note:**

> *Eight Days of Luke is a novel by Diana Wynne Jones. But! It also makes a great title for a Hanukkah fic. 
> 
> **I don't celebrate Hanukkah, and although I did a lil' bit of research for the fic, I also think it's likely/textually supported that Elliot has only a vague, academic/historic knowledge of the holiday. My apologies if my depiction of their celebration is in any way harmful.
> 
> ***SRB slightly tangentially mentioned that Luke and Serene get the impression that Elliot wouldn't react well to getting a gift, and I was like, that seems like a good idea to dedicate hours of my life to exploring in detail. https://sarahreesbrennan.tumblr.com/post/636334529210187776/some-of-my-favorite-moments-from-in-other-lands-in

No one left camp for Christmas, but there was always a day off of classes, a feast to look forward to, and people swapping gifts all over. Luke recieved a package from his family ever year, which usually consisted of something knit by his father and a weapon or something that he could use to make sure that his weapons stayed shiny and sharp. Luke loved Christmas, and he missed spending it with his family. 

Well, sort of. It was one of those times when there were usually so many Sunborns in the house that it got difficult to find the Sunborns he actually wanted to be around. And usually there was drinking, and his uncle teaching Louise ribald songs, and--come to think of it, Christmas at the border camp was actually better in some ways. 

But Christmas was tricky. Because as long as Luke had been alive, the rule had been to give gifts to the people he loved. Even when he'd been knee-high, he'd strung together some colored paper or gone with Louise to find the roundest stones to give to his parents for Christmas. Even if the gift wasn't quite right, there'd always been the gesture: I love you, and I got you this. 

As long as it was just family, that had been fine. But now Luke was stuck. 

"Hey, Loser. Why are you glaring at your food like that? You know you're not going to intimidate it into giving up territory, right?"

Luke decided to glare at Elliot instead, since Elliot wanted to ask annoying questions. And since Luke was actually annoyed with Elliot and not lunches. 

Serene looked from one of them to the other. "Have the two of you had a boy fight?"

Elliot frowned. "We have not. We're on excellent terms. _Right Luke_?" He said this laden with expectations, so that it was very clear Luke was supposed to agree and make the truce continue to function as a curtain over everything that was Elliot and Luke.

But instead of agreeing with Elliot, Luke said, "Explain the thing you do instead of Christmas on your side of the wall."

Elliot blinked, surprised by the turn of conversation, but Luke had asked him to explain something. It never took him long to recover when recovery meant lecturing Luke on something Luke didn't understand. 

In fact, Elliot got so into his lecture that Serene had to clear her throat rather sharply. "Elliot, everyone else has left the lunchroom, and we're going to be late for our class if we do not leave now."

Elliot looked around, and Luke had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing. He seemed so baffled to be in the middle of the empty room, as if time truly stopped for him while he was in the middle of exploring the cultural and religious significance of different holidays in his strange homeland. 

Serene tugged on Luke's arm. The two of them would have to run to hand-to-hand combat, but that wouldn't be a problem for either of them. As soon as they were out of earshot, Serene looked over her shoulder at Luke. "You seem troubled. Are you--you are not bothered by the cultural differences Elliot practices?"

When she said it like that, it seemed terrible for Luke to be annoyed at Elliot. It probably was terrible for Luke to be annoyed at Elliot. "I wanted to do gifts this year," he muttered. "But Elliot's always got to make everything so complicated."

A line appeared between Serene's eyebrows, and Luke realized that made it sound even worse. 

"You know that the elves also do not celebrate Christmas. We feast on the solstice, but gifts are not a common practice for this particular holiday."

"I know that. But with you, it's easy. If I gave you a present, you'd like it anyway. Because I do Christmas, and you're my sword sister, and you'd just--take the gift. And like it."

"Of course I would," she acknowledged. "You don't think Elliot would accept a gift from you?"

Luke opened his mouth and closed it again, feeling like a stupid fish. Possibly he felt like a stupid fish because whenever he did that in front of Elliot, Elliot said that he looked like a stupid fish. But by that time, Serene and he arrived at hand-to-hand-combat, and it was too late to explain the truce, and how he wanted to give Elliot something despite the fact that Elliot wasn't his friend, and how unsteady he felt about that. 

Anyway, there was only one way to find out if Elliot would accept a gift from Luke.


	2. Day 1

One

Luke wasn't sure he had any of the bits of Hanukkah right. Elliot said that they hadn't really celebrated in his house, and it had been one of those moments: a moment that Elliot skated around telling Luke and Serene anything about the people that had Elliot first. 

Luke ran a hand through his hair. Just to smooth it. Definitely not because Elliot had him ready to pull his hair out by the roots. It wasn't like he cared what Elliot's family was like. It wasn't like he wondered all the time who they were, or how they talked, or if they had read Elliot all the books that got him started. It wasn't like Luke sometimes wondered if Elliot had grown up too alone to give names to the other people who'd had him first, or worried that Elliot had been lonely. Not at all. 

But Elliot said they hadn't really celebrated, so maybe he wouldn't be too bothered when Luke did everything wrong. Who was he kidding? Elliot's sun rose and set on Luke doing everything wrong. 

Luke walked up to the lunch table, hands clenched around what he carried. Elliot wasn't looking his way because he was still staring at Serene. Luke tried to read the look, to see if Elliot was still in love with her. They'd broken up, and Elliot had acted like he was fine, but everything had been so strange after that in ways that Luke couldn't always put a finger on. 

He couldn't tell if Elliot was looking at Serene like that because he was still in love with her, or if he was just smiling like that because he had always liked Serene. They had always been real friends. 

Serene noticed Luke first, and he sat next to her, keeping his hands at his sides. 

"Hello, loser, did you forget something?"

Luke panicked. Even before he explained, Elliot could already tell that he'd forgotten something important, and...

"Like your lunch? Because let me tell you, if you are planning on stealing my lunch from me, I absolutely will not stand for that kind of bullying."

As if Elliot didn't steal bits of Luke's meal every day. Luke scowled at him and put his hands on the table. "My hands were full."

Luke was not a thief. If Elliot had wanted to get nine candles, he would have just picked them up and walked out of a room. But Luke hadn't been willing to do that, and he only had six candles of his own, so he'd had to go around and ask people for their extras.. He lined them up on the table, peeking up to see if Elliot was laughing yet. 

But Elliot wasn't laughing, and Serene's face was very solemn.

"You gathered candles for Elliot's ceremony of lights," Serene observed.

"Uh. Right. I didn't have--I couldn't find anything like you said to hold them. Maybe you'll have to bring a menorah back with your next shipment of contraband?" Luke tried to smile, but he had a feeling it was a very weak attempt. He couldn't read the expression on Elliot's face. 

Elliot stood the candles up in a line and looked at them as if he wasn't sure what to do next. Serene put her tinderbox on the table next to Elliot, who lit the middle candle, and then one of the candles beside it. He sat back and blinked at the candles. 

It was quiet at their lunch table, which almost never happened. It almost never happened because Elliot always had something to say, but now he was staring at the candles, almost mesmerized. Luke wondered if the candles felt to Elliot like the Christmas singing felt to Luke: nostalgic. Joyful, but a little mournful too, because his family was celebrating somewhere else. Was Elliot thinking about people on the other side of the wall, wishing he could be with them, even if they didn't light the canldes together?

"I didn't know the right day for starting it," Luke said, just to break the silence.

Instead of asking what Luke did know or launching into a detailed explanation of the correct date, Elliot shrugged and swallowed. And then one of the cooks came over and told them to put out the candles and what did they think this was, a romantic dinner, they should go to the Elven Tavern for that and not burn down the mess hall. 

Not Luke's greatest success. 


	3. Day 2

There were eight days of Hanukkah, which meant Luke had seven more chances to do something that didn't get them yelled at by the cooks. 

Serene squinted into the sunrise and shot a perfect volley of arrows, then turned to Luke. "I told you that Elliot would accept a gift from you."

Luke focused on preparing to shoot, which made it easier to answer Serene. "That wasn't really a gift. It was just some candles." 

He shot, and as he and Serene walked across the field to retrieve the arrows, she ventured, "So candles do not count as a gift? Is that a Christmas-related rule? I think that among elves, anything given--"

Fine. So candles were sort of a gift, but not really in the way that Luke thought of as a gift. It had just been--something. Something to say, even though I don't understand everything, I can try.

"It was stupid, anyway, We just got in trouble for lighting fires in the mess hall."

"Which seems very odd to me," Serene observed. "It's not as though they don't have much larger and hotter fires for cooking the food. What did they think we were going to do with a candle?"

Luke shrugged. He still felt stupid about it. Elliot hadn't minded getting in trouble, because he never did, but Luke didn't like the feeling. 

"Nevertheless, I'll tell Elliot that we'll do the candles at dinner tonight, alright?"

"He probably won't want to...." Luke started, but by that time, Serene was ready to shoot again, and he trailed off to watch her aim. 

Elliot was there--at the edge of the fire, holding fistfuls of candles, which they set up on a bench. No one could tell them off for lighting candles at the fireside, could they? Elliot tipped the middle candle into the fire, and then he lit one of the candles on the side. He hesitated before lighting one on the other side, then looked up. At Serene, not at Luke. "I don't really know what to do," he said. "Like I said, we didn't really do this when I was growing up, so--"

Luke studied Elliot's face, which was easier to do when Elliot wasn't looking at him. This was really it: this was Elliot, not knowing what to do. Or say, apparently, because once again the three of them were silent. Abruptly, Luke reached into his bag and pulled out a package wrapped in paper and string, then thrust it at Elliot. 

Elliot blinked at it. "What's this?"

"I believe it's a gift," Serene observed. She sounded a bit amused. "Is it not traditional to exchange gifts during your celebration?"

Elliot opened his mouth and then closed it again. He looked sort of like a fish, but a rather confused one. One that Luke wanted to put in a nice pond and make sure had the right kind of fish food. 

"Sometimes?" Elliot said. He was fiddling with the string, but he wasn't actually opening the gift, and Luke's stomach clenched. Maybe he didn't want it, not because it was or wasn't traditional to give gifts, but because he didn't want anything from Luke. This wasn't part of the truce, and Luke knew it. 

"I believe you're supposed to open the gift," Serene supplied, still in her amused tone of voice.

Instead of arguing with her, Elliot tugged the string away, and the paper wrapped around it came apart. 

"It's just something small," Luke found himself rushing to say. "I mean, I know that you don't like pens on our side of the wall, but this is a nice one, so I thought it would help if your Ball-pens run out. And I thought, when you have to sign treaties and stuff with important people--they might think one of those pens was strange, and using a regular one like this would help, but--"

Elliot held the pen up to the candlelight, turning it between his fingers. Luke tried to read what he was thinking from his face, but before he could quite pin down if Elliot was disappointed or only surprised, Elliot shoved the pen in to his own bag and walked away. 

Serene's face lost its amused glow, and Luke sat next to her, deflated. 

"Why did he just walk off?" Luke said. It came out sounding very pouty, and Serene patted him on the back. 

"Do you think that Elliot has recieved a gift before?" 

She didn't ask like she had an answer in mind. More like she was puzzling over it, trying to see a way that it could be true. It made Luke fall quiet. 


	4. Day 3

In fact, Elliot had gotten a gift before. A book, from Dale Wavechaser, just before the summer holidays. Luke almost never thought about it. He almost never thought about how Dale had run over, looking rumpled and pleased, and given Elliot the stupid little book and Elliot had given Dale a kiss on the cheek as a gesture of thanks. 

So even though he didn't think about the moment often, he knew that Elliot knew the proper way to receive a gift, which was to thank the giver. Even if it wasn't perfect. Even if the gesture was clumsy and stupid, there was supposed to be some sort of thank-you. 

It was almost enough for Luke to forget about giving Elliot the gift that night, but Serene showed up at the fireside looking very pleased and clearly holding a wrapped package in her hands. 

Elliot lit the candles, and any trace of hesitation Luke had seen the day before was gone. 

"You have to open my present first," Serene said. "I cannot wait to see how you will react!"

Luke hadn't known that Serene was going to give Elliot something. Of course, anyone could give Elliot gifts. It wasn't something Luke could keep to himself. He knew the rules of gift giving, and there was no way to stop someone else from making the same gesture. Gifts were free.

One of Elliot's small smiles appeared when he took the package from Serene, and he didn't have to be told to open it. He undid the envelope and started flipping through the pages. "Oh! Serene, this is!"

"Elvish battle tales," she said proudly, "In old elvish. I thought you could use them along with the new language translations to learn some old elvish."

"This is the perfect gift," Elliot gushed. "But then, what else could I expect from you? Thank you, Serene."

Elliot seemed entirely consumed with looking through the pages, and Luke shifted. He didn't have to give his gift to Elliot. He could skip the indignity of having Elliot light up over Serene's gift and tolerate his. But who was Luke other than a glutton for Elliot's grudging tolerance? 

He reached into his bag and pulled out a glass dish. 

"What's this?" Elliot asked suspiciously, lifting it closer to his face. 

"It's a pudding," Luke said, as if that much really needed to be explained. It looked like a pudding. Elliot would be able to tell it was a pudding.

"I can tell that much," Elliot confirmed. "But where did you get it? Did you snap and steal it from the kitchens?"

Oh. For some reason it hadn't occurred to Luke that Elliot might ask where he'd come up with this. "I made it."

Elliot's face did a complicated, quick motion, and then he took a huge spoonful of the pudding and stuck it in his mouth. "If this is an attempt to poison me," he said around the mouth, "I want you to know that I find it very distasteful that you're preying on my naturally trusting nature."

Luke rolled his eyes. It was his only defense against Elliot, and he'd gotten very good at it. 

"I was not aware that you were culinarily inclined," Serene said. "Although I am very proud of you, Luke, for cultivating your traditionally masculine side in a place that's so focused on developing your violent and defensive tendencies."

Luke waited for Elliot to make a joke about Luke not being able to cook, but instead he held out the large glass dish. "You should try it, Serene. Luke's traditionally masculine side is much tastier than I expected."

Luke blushed, but the wording didn't seem to bother Serene, who took a large bite even though she normally didn't go for sweets. 

And then Elliot held the dish toward Luke. "I suppose you deserve some too. For making it."

Luke blinked. "Me?"

"Do you see another traditionally masculine loser around here?"

Luke took a bite before Elliot had time to say more things or take the food out of his range. Luke liked sweet things, after all, and he had gotten fewer than his preferred number of sweet things in the past couple of years. It was an occupational hazard of having Elliot nearby. 

But after that first bite, Elliot sat so that the dish was out in front of him, positioned evenly between all three.

Luke didn't know if that meant he should eat more of it until Elliot scowled up at him and said, "I didn't put it here to make it harder for me to reach."

"But it's meant to be a gift for you," Luke said through a second mouthful.

Elliot hummed. "You're trying to make me sick so that tomorrow when you make me run around, I'll throw up on the track again."

"No one liked that," Serene said quickly. 

"Then you both have to help me eat." Elliot said. "I don't make the rules."

The fire crackled beside them, and the small lights of four candles played on their faces, and the three of them ate the whole dessert. Luke wondered if there was some magic to the food. He didn't think he had the talent for that. 

But. This Elliot that shared things--the Elliot that was leaning back and laughing, his red hair flashing like the firelight because of something Luke (Luke!) said--this Elliot was rare enough that it must mean magic. 


	5. Day 4

"You know you don't have to give me gifts every day," Elliot said. He was looking at the space between Serene and Luke, which made it hard to know if he mostly meant one of them to listen. But Luke knew Elliot's ways. As much as some things confused him, Luke knew that if Elliot had something to say to Serene, he spoke to Serene. If he had something to say to Luke, he talked awkwardly between them. 

Serene stretched one arm across her body. They'd done a lot of strength training that day, and Luke was feeling the pull in his muscles too. "I wonder, Elliot, if you actually think you could force us to give you gifts somehow."

Elliot laughed his sharp little laugh. "I would never force you to do anything against your will, even if I could." This he said very clearly to Serene. It only applied to Serene. After all, Luke always found himself being forced into confusing things through Elliot's games. 

"I mean, the candles are great. Gifts aren't really--you don't really have to give gifts as part of it. That's optional. Only some people do it."

"Thank you for explaining," Serene said. "Luke and I are having fun being people who do give gifts."

Luke shot her a look. She might be having fun. He was wracked with anxiety. Serene gave Elliot a packet of seeds and explained how they were something cultivated by the elves, and Elliot gave a grand speech of acceptance. Luke needed to start giving his gifts first so he didn't have to follow Serene.

"Here." He pushed the brown-paper package across the space toward Elliot. 

Elliot took it, his fingers carefully only grabbing at the edges, making a point to never brush against Luke's. "Another one?" 

Luke held his breath as Elliot peeled away the wrapping and fiddled with the object inside: a thick cylinder with carefully spaced raised bumps. The cylinder spun slowly when Elliot turned a crank, playing a short tune.

"It's stupid," Luke said in a rush. "You gave my family that Tape Player, and my mom loves it. I know this isn't as good. It can't even do a full song, but..."

Elliot spun the crank and listened to the mournful plinking, and Luke wanted to cover his face. Elliot couldn't know the song, could he? Why hadn't Luke thought about how awkward it was to give Elliot something that played a song about true love? Although, come to think of it, he wasn't sure he'd ever found one of those music players that didn't play a song about true love. 

"It's stupid," Luke repeated.

Elliot didn't say anything. His face still had that same confused, flat expression that it got when Luke distracted him from Serene's present. He stuck the music player in his bag, stood up, and walked away. Luke watched him go. 

Yesterday he must have done something right, because Elliot had _stayed,_ and he had _laughed._ Luke didn't know what made this time different, but this gift hadn't had any of the right effects.

Serene reached over and put her hand on top of his. "I think he likes it."

"Are you trying to develop his sarcastic brand of humor? Because let me tell you, I'm not sure I can handle two sarcastic...." he trailed off because he had been about to say something stupid, like "friends."

"I will leave the sarcasm to Elliot. Liking a gift does not always mean that it makes us feel happy."

Maybe not, but if Elliot liked the gift, why hadn't he stayed with them in the candlelight and played the song until they were all tired of the plinking notes? 


	6. Day 5

Luke wished he'd gone into this with a plan. Well, a clearer plan. A better plan. At dinner, Elliot lit the candles without Luke and Serene having to argue with him about it. 

But then Serene had said, "I haven't got any gifts for you today."

Elliot took Luke's dessert and scraped his vegetables onto Luke's plate. "I told you before, I'm not expecting gifts from you every day. This is ridiculous. I haven't given either of you anything."

Luke should have just left it at that, but he did have a gift for Elliot. It was just--"You have to get up for my gift."

Elliot frowned. "Is bullying me into exercise your idea of a gift?"

"It's not exercise. I just want to show you something."

Elliot looked at Luke with eyes laden with distrust, but he didn't say anything, and he did actually stand up. Elliot wondered if this was one of those things, the kind of thing that Luke didn't think could be a threat, but when Elliot heard it, there was a secret threat in it, a threat somebody else put there. 

"Fine. But this better not involve secret exercise."

Serene did not stand up when Luke and Elliot did, and Luke gave her a look. As his sword sister, she should instinctively know exactly what Luke was trying to communicate to her. She should be willing to go at his side across the camp and, if necessary, the whole lands rather than waving a hand gracefully. "You two go on. I have two papers to write for class tomorrow, and I intend to send Golden another letter, even if he does ignore everything I send him."

Elliot half-turned toward Luke and stopped mid-motion. "You still--you don't want to wait until Serene can come?"

"No," Luke pouted. This was the gift for tonight, and even if he should wait until Serene could come and be the oil that made Luke and Elliot run smoothly, he'd already started and he might as well go on with it. 

Elliot looked like he wanted to back out, but he'd left it up to Luke, so Luke started hiking off into the dark. Elliot trailed behind him in silence for about ten seconds before he started up with the questions. 

"Where are we going? Is this something we have to do in the middle of the night? If you're going to make me walk up that hill, it definitely counts as exercise."

Luke stopped to glare at Elliot. "I'm going to walk up the hill. You can stay down here if you want. In fact, it's probably better if you don't follow me, since this could get me in trouble."

Elliot's face lit up. "Trouble, you say? That doesn't really seem like your style."

There was the reaction Luke had been going for. Now Elliot was happy with him, and only because Luke was worried. But it got Elliot to troop up the hill after him so Luke could point at the outbuilding he'd discovered on one of his hikes. This hill was a good place to be alone. Most of the other trainees at the camp seemed to feel some kind of magnetic attraction that kept them all near one another. And Luke understood, sort of. He felt pulled back to Serene and Elliot over and over again. But there were days that the all-the-time noise and togetherness of camp was too much. 

"I come up here to be alone," he muttered. "But I wanted to show it to you."

"Because you want to murder me here and don't want anyone to find out that you did it?"

"Do you think I could get away with it?"

Elliot laughed his razor-edged laugh. "You're such a secret psychopath. No one knows your evil side but me, and no one will believe me about it. It would be the perfect crime."

Luke felt his face breaking into a smile in response. He wasn't sure if Elliot was laughing with him or at him this time, but he would take it. "Speaking of crimes. I thought this would be a good place to keep your contraband. It's far from the camp and no one will be killed if this old building burns down."

But by this point Elliot was talking to the space where Elliot had been, because Elliot was now poking around the building, probably trying to calculate just how much illegal smuggling he could do using this space. 

Luke should have brought Elliot up earlier in the day, because Elliot insisted on inspecting every inch of the outbuilding, and by the time they walked back to the cabins, Luke knew he wasn't going to get a full eight hours before dawn archery practice. But it was worth it, because Elliot had wanted to stay. Whatever Luke had done right this time made Elliot stay. 


	7. Day 6

"What are you doing, loser?"

Luke startled and slammed the cover of the book that he was reading shut.

Serene cleared her throat. "Elliot, you of all people should be able to identify when someone is reading."

Elliot spun in a slow circle, as if disoriented and trying to figure out where he was. "This is the library, correct? And I'm not dreaming?"

"Why? Luke said. "Do your dreams often start with finding me in the library?"

Serene made a sharp coughing noise, and Luke's eyes went wide. He hadn't actually meant to say that out loud. He wasn't even sure why he thought it. It was the kind of thing Elliot would say. Elliot was rubbing off on him.

Elliot scoffed. "You wish, loser. Are you going to explain why you're in my private sanctuary of learning, poking your nose into things?"

Luke couldn't explain, because he was dealing with a crisis: it seemed obvious that one of the gifts for Elliot should be a book, but none of the books were good enough to give Elliot. Luke was becoming a bit panicky about it.

"It's dinner time," Elliot said.

"Mm." Luke was going to have to look in another book. This one was full of untrue stuff about elves that Elliot would never go for.

"And we looked all over camp before coming here, because this is the absolute last place either of us thought you would be," Elliot went on loudly.

"I told you we should check here earlier," Serene contradicted.

"Here I am," Luke said, flipping open the next book.

Elliot shifted from foot to foot. "Weren't you planning on eating dinner, loser? You know you won't be able to keep all those lumpy muscles in good condition if you don't eat things, right?"

Luke took a package out of his bag and slid it across the table. "That's your gift for today."

"O-kay" Elliot said slowly, but aren't you coming to dinner? I was waiting to light the candles until you got there, and..." he seemed to run out of words, which was unusual enough that Luke looked up and his brain caught on what Elliot was saying.

Elliot had come looking for him. Elliot. had. come. looking. for. him. Not because he was trying to get a gift, but because Elliot expected (wanted?) Luke there for dinner.

Luke shut his book with a thump and pushed all of them to the corner of the desk. He stood up. "Right. Dinner. Let's go."


	8. Day 7

"Did you ever open your gift from Luke last night?" Serene asked. "He did not tell me what this one would be, and I was curious."

Luke was glad Serene had been the one to ask. When they'd left the library the day before, Elliot had swept the package up in his hands, and Luke had felt too awkward about asking Elliot to open it while they were all eating dinner that night. It was Elliot's gift, anyway. He could open it or not open it whenever he wanted to.

"I opened it," Elliot confirmed. "It was a woodcutting of a mermaid. Which, luckily, confirms my suspicions that my mermaid lectures have been making some kind of impression on Luke."

"The impression that you like them," Luke said around a mouthful of bread. "Maybe you can talk to the woodcutting about your mermaid fantasies instead of constantly recounting them to us."

Elliot laughed, loud and rough, and since Like had actually been intending to get Elliot to laugh, he reveled in the sound. 

Elliot lit the candles, and his face transformed from looking very pleased to looking a little crestfallen. "It's almost over," he said. "Just the one more night after this one."

It was a relief, in a way, because Luke was tired of wracking his brain for presents that would be good enough for Elliot, tracking them down, and then actually giving them to Elliot. But he'd go on doing it for a hundred days if it would just put that pleased expression back on Elliot's face. Instead, he shoved the second-to-last gift across the table to Elliot and started eating his meat pie in great, burning bites. 

Elliot undid the envelope and slid out the parchments inside. Luke could hear Serene and Elliot puzzling over the pages as Elliot gently unfolded the thing. "A map," Elliot whispered. There was a worship in his voice usually reserved for books that he properly liked or the things he missed that only existed on the other side of the wall. "Luke, it's a map. On paper."

Luke. "It's not finished." Luke. "I found it in the library at home and thought you might like it." Elliot had called him Luke. Not loser, not Sunburn. 

Elliot's eyes were huge and luminous. "The only other maps I've seen have been on those huge stones, which are terrible for carrying around. And of course it's not finished. It's a map of the Borderlands. Nobody knows it all. Yet." Elliot ran one finger over the markings on the map, and Luke couldn't help the surge of soft affection that ran through him. It was a wonder to watch Elliot be so fond of something--not the gift, but the land it represented. As much as Luke worried that Elliot would disappear one day, back to the world where he could get Ball-pens and a proper Menorah, Elliot had some reason to stay. And that was a relief. 

Serene beamed at both of them. "What a useful gift, Luke. You are awfully good at this gift giving thing. You must be in good practice. I think I could learn somethings from you."

Luke wasn't sure why that did it, but the smile on Elliot's face froze, brittle, and Elliot stood up. "I should go."

Was this jealousy? Was Elliot angry that Serene was complimenting Luke's gift giving? How childish. How unfair, especially since Elliot hadn't thanked Luke once. But it was too late to argue with Elliot about it, because Elliot had gone off down the trail, back towards his cabin. 

The little line of worry showed up between Serene's eyes. "What did I say that caused Elliot to leave?"

"I'm sure it wasn't you," Luke muttered. He knew he sounded sulky but couldn't quite seem to stop himself. "Elliot loves you. It was probably something stupid I did."


	9. Day 8

Luke had a book to give Elliot for the last night of Hanukkah. He bought it from the booksellers that day instead of doing the extra centering exercises that he usually did with Serene. She'd gone with him and listened while he listed all the reasons why none of the books were right. 

"He's almost definitely read that one. That one's by a Coldtallon, and they're always saying questionable things about dwarves. You know Elliot wouldn't want to read about that. This whole section is about Trigon? Who even wants to read about Trigon?"

"I think that I would enjoy reading about Trigon." Serene contributed. "But I agree that Elliot would not, despite the fact that it would likely provide him a useful background for watching your games.."

Right. That would be useful if Elliot actually watched any of the games. "Which leaves this section. I don't think he's read these, because they aren't the sort of books that I usually see him with at the library, but what if he has read them, and I just didn't see him? Or what if he doesn't read them because he doesn't enjoy this kind of book at all?"

Serene put down the book she was looking at to study Luke. "You seem very worried about presenting Elliot with a book that he will enjoy."

"Of course I am!" Luke cried in a squawky voice. "You know how Elliot is!"

Serene seemed puzzled by this. "I believe so. He loves to read. He enjoys having a book near him at all times. I do not understand why this is causing you so much anxiety."

Luke let out a long breath that had planned on being an argument, because he realized that Serene was never going to see the problem. To an outside observer, it might seem like Luke had nothing to worry about. After all, Elliot had taken a book from Dale. He'd read the book, and Luke had seen it sitting in a place of honor at the side of Elliot's bed, even though it looked like the kind of trash that Elliot never read. It wasn't about what Elliot was like. It was about what Elliot was like with Luke. 

Serene put a hand on Luke's arm. "You know he treasures the other gifts you have given him?"

Luke grabbed one of the books he'd been eyeing and spun to find a merchant to pay. He didn't want to go on having this conversation with Serene. He couldn't see how it would end with anything other than telling her about the truce, and he'd told Elliot he wouldn't do that. 

"Right. He seems thrilled with my gifts. When you gave him something, it was all--'oh Serene, thank you so much, you're the perfect Hanukkah gift-giver despite being as new to the practice as everyone else on this side of the wall.' I just want him to acknowledge my gifts. Is that too much to ask?"

Luke had gotten pretty good at reading the subtle shifts in his sword sister's face, but there was nothing subtle about this expression. Her mouth was open in a small, round "o."

"Luke," she managed. "He does. They mean something to him. He may have been unable to put that to words, but--"

Luke plunked his money on the table in front of the book merchant and went on walking with big steps. "Elliot's very good with words, Serene. He says whatever he wants to. We both know that."

When Serene was mysteriously gone during dinner that night, Luke's stomach squeezed. She'd acted concerned about Luke throughout the day; it didn't seem fair for her to disappear during the bit she knew he was worked up about. In fact, it bordered on evil. Elliot and he were sitting with their dinners and a heavy silence, and if Serene had been there, it wouldn't have been weird.

He stabbed his fork into his potato. "Should we go find Serene?"

Elliot looked up from his own plate. "She told me that she wasn't feeling well. Which I find highly suspicious, actually, because Serene is the pinnacle of health and wellness." 

At least this seemed to break Elliot from his awkward frozen state, because he caught the middle candle alight from one of the campfires and started lighting the other candles. All eight. Luke hadn't thought about it when he gave the candles, but they were all different heights now. They'd hardly burned the candles at all on the first two days, so there were three that were nearly the same, all quite short from flickering in the background while they'd shared the pudding Luke made. Luke and Serene had to gather all the candles on the fourth night, after Elliot had walked away, but on the fifth night they'd burned all through dinner until Luke convinced Elliot to follow him up the hill. 

Elliot looked from the lit candles to Luke's face. "What?"

"They sort of tell the story of the week, don't they?"

Elliot made an expression that Luke rarely got to see. The soft smile, the one that didn't have teeth. "They do."

Without waiting for the awkward to fall back over the pair of them, Luke dug in his bag and got out the book. He'd wrapped it in paper, just like the others, but he knew that just by taking it in his hands, Elliot would know it as a book. Elliot knew what books felt like. 

Elliot unwrapped the paper silently and took the gift in both hands to study it. He read the title, then opened the cover to inspect the first pages. 

"I know it's not the sort of thing you usually read," Luke said. "It's children's stories. An explorer named Greensprig went around and gathered children's stories from the Harpies and the Elves and Dwarves--anyone he could get to talk to him, really. And he wrote them down here. I know you don't really like reading children's stories, but I thought... because of the cross-cultural, ah, implications, you might... it might still be useful to you."

Elliot had been quiet for all of that, which was suspicious. He was studying the book, andn when Luke looked directly at Elliot's face, he had to look away again. Elliot's eyes were shining in a way that seemed very wet. 

Elliot blinked, and suddenly he was all motion. He slammed the cover of the book shut, and held it back over the candles, toward Luke. "I can't take this."

Luke didn't lift a hand to take it back. 

Elliot shook it a little desperately. "Take it back, Luke. I don't want this."

"I don't want it either," Luke answered. His voice was going dead and dull, but of course it was. This was what he'd been afraid of all along. The rejection. This sting. "It's for you, Elliot. If you can take that stupid book from Dale Wavechaser, then you can keep the book from me, too."

Elliot laughed. "That book from Dale Wavechaser? You mean the one he got given as a prize but didn't want to keep, so he passed it on to me? Right. That's exactly the same thing."

Luke boiled. "I spent hours this week looking through the library, trying to make sure I wouldn't get you something you thought was stupid. I missed practice this morning to get this for you. Just take it, Elliot."

"I can't." 

Luke was aware, from the sudden lack of background noise, that he and Elliot had gotten loud. Loud enough that most of the people at the nearby firesides had gone quiet to listen. 

Elliot must have realized it at the same time, because his voice fell to a whisper. "I can't accept. I shouldn't have let you get started with this. It's too much. I haven't given you anything."

"You have." Luke pitched his voice in a fierce whisper. He didn't want the whole camp listening in on him, but he did want Elliot to know he wasn't just giving in. "You gave my family that Tape-player. And you gave me a pen once, too." And then there were all the invisible things--Elliot had helped Luke do well in their classes since first year. He'd taught Luke about the other side of the wall. He'd sent letters and welcomed Luke back to camp after battle, and... "You're--important to me. You're a significant person in my life, and I traditionally give gifts to the significant people in my life for the holidays."

There. How could Elliot fight him on that? Luke had chosen his words carefully to be just factual enough. 

Elliot looked miserably at the book, which was still clutched in his fingers because Luke wouldn't take it back. "I don't know how to say this."

Luke snorted. First Serene, and now Elliot, acting as though Elliot didn't always have the words and courage to say exactly whatever cutting truth he meant to say. 

"I'm not used to getting gifts."

Luke couldn't admit that he knew that. That it was part of the point and the reason he'd wanted to make sure there was something for every day. "When I was growing up," Luke offered. "My parents used to give me something little for all the days leading up to Christmas. A piece of candy, or a cookie or something like that. I think it was part of getting excited for Christmas, even though we were always plenty excited anyway."

Elliot's jaw clenched. "I get it. You love Christmas."

How did someone as smart as Elliot always manage to miss the point?

Elliot went on raggedly. "It's nice, but I can't."

"Why not? So you're not used to getting gifts. So what? Get used to it. This week was practice. Not saying you were great at it, or anything, because I don't think it would have killed you to say 'thank you' or 'this is great' one time, but I didn't complain about that, did I? If I'm wiling to put up with you being terrible at getting gifts, you might as well keep trying."

Elliot looked wretched. He pressed one of his fingers to the candle, like he was testing to see if it was real. "I know this stuff doesn't mean much to you. It means too much to me."

What? Luke was on the verge of despairing. "This doesn't mean much to me?"

Ad the Elliot's wretchedness was gone, replaced by something worse: False cheeriness. He forced his words out through a fixed-on smile. "Right. You don't--you don't seem to think much about giving all of this to me just because... just because we've got a truce and we eat lunch together. But it's not small to me. All of this seems like a bigger deal than it should to me. So just. You have to stop. You and Serene can exchange gifts, and you don't have to worry about me. It just sends the wrong message." That was so Elliot, to stumble upon some dark emotion and force it back behind his peace-making smile. 

But Luke didn't want false peace, he wanted to understand. "What wrong message does this send? It's a book, Elliot, it's not as if I'm trying to give you a ring."

Elliot's smile wavered. "There. Now you understand. It's just a book to you. To me?" Elliot set the book down by Luke, moving carefully. "To me, this feels like you love me."

It wasn't the first time Elliot had stood up and walked away, leaving Luke confused and speechless in his wake. But this time, Luke watched him going with his mouth gaping, wishing he could form any of the words that would make Elliot stay. 


	10. Solstice

In the days between the final day of Hanukkah and the Winter Solstice, Luke and Elliot didn't see each other much. Luke thought it was a team effort. It was nice to know how efficient he and Elliot could be when they agreed on a goal. 

Serene was distraught. "I thought if I removed myself from your presence, the two of you would be able to talk more openly from your heart and emotions, the way boys do when they are alone. I thought this would clear the air between the two of you."

Luke stabbed furiously at the training dummy he was fighting. "Serene, I can't focus when you keep talking about him."

She sighed heavily. "I cannot focus on anything when the two of you are avoiding each other. You are each very dear to me. I do not understand what happened, and neither of you will explain it."

Luke felt his face warm with a miserable blush. It would be nice to explain all this to Serene and see what she thought, but he couldn't figure out how to say it in a way that didn't feel humiliating. _Elliot thinks I'm in love with him because I gave him presents? Elliot figured out that I love him, and he hates it? Elliot read too much into that book I gave him?_

"I just don't want to think about him, Serene."

"Tonight is the solstice," she said. "And I would very much like to spend it with both of you."

Luke couldn't refuse to spend the solstice with Serene, not when he'd put so much work into doing Elliot's holiday right. "Of course. I'll be there, Serene. But I can't control what Elliot will do."

He would leave it to Elliot to be the rude one. Elliot wouldn't mind. 

"Tell us everything about how you celebrate the Solstice." Elliot's chin was propped up on his hands, and he was gazing raptly at Serene's face. So much for him being silent and withdrawn.

Serene looked doubtfully around. Most of the other trainees had downed their dinners, and even those who had lingered for a long time around their campfires were headed back to the cabins. Even Luke could admit that it was a chilly night, damp enough in the air to be a little unpleasant, and Elliot had layered every warm piece of clothing he owned. 

Serene stoked the little fire by their side. "It is a celebration of the dark. It is the longest night, of course, and so we celebrate the beauty and secrecy of nighttime. There is feasting, and the musicians practice for it for months to play all through the night. There's a great deal of dancing. Of course the warriors participate in competitions of archery and blades, trying to catch the attention of a gentleman. By the long hours of the morning, many find a pretty young thing to stay warm with."

Luke felt a jolt of panic. Was this the kind of festivity that ended with Elliot and Serene tumbling back into bed together, and Luke being left alone to stare into the dying embers of the fire?

"I think," Elliot remarked dryly, "We're going to have to forgo some of those traditions. But we could probably do some music. Let me think."

Elliot was quiet for a moment, and Luke let himself relax. Elliot was here, being clever and chatting with Serene, and everything seemed normal enough. Whatever he meant by waking away from Luke, he wasn't disgusted or frightened or stubborn enough to avoid him forever. The truce was still on, which meant that they could still be around each other, even if they hadn't directly said two words to each other the whole time. 

Elliot drummed his fingers on his metal plate and started singing,

"Lonely is the night  
When you find yourself alone  
Your demons come to light  
And your mind is not your own  
Lonely is the night  
When there's no one left to call  
You feel the time is right  
Say the writin's on the wall"

He cut off. "Sorry, that song isn't really about celebrating the night. It was the first thing I thought of."

Serene leaned back so that her head was on Elliot's knee. "I thought it was lovely." Luke watched Elliot's eyes flick down to her and wished that he could read Elliot's mind. He wished he actually understood what had gone on between Serene and Elliot and why they had been a couple for a season and now were still friends who leaned on each other like this. 

"My singing isn't as nice as Elliot's," he said. 

"Sing anyway," Serene commanded from her position of leisure. 

Luke cleared his throat. 

"In the bleak midwinter,   
Frosty wind made moan  
Earth stood hard as iron  
water like a stone.   
Snow had fallen, snow on snow.   
Snow on snow on snow.   
In the bleak mid-winter  
Long ago."

He knew his voice was not as clear and fine-sounding as Elliot's, but this was what Serene was missing. Music. This was what he could give. When he was finished, Serene's lips pressed together in appreciation, and Luke felt Elliot's eyes on him. He kept his gaze fixed on the cracking fire. 

Serene then sang one of the Elvish songs that the elves sang and danced to at the Solstice and was very patient about teaching Luke and Elliot all the words after. It had a very different tone than the human songs that Elliot and Luke had contributed about winter. Much more about reveling in shared body heat, which made Luke blush and Elliot laugh. 

Serene let the fire burn down in the morning, when the sky was still black, but only because the sun would take so long to rise. She stood and straightened her clothes, even though she was the only one who didn't look like she'd spent the night outside. "Thank you both for sitting that vigil with me. Solstice has felt a bit lonely in years past. This year was still very different from what I am used to, but it did not feel lonely."

She walked away before Luke had a chance to chase the numbness from his limbs and tag after her. He glared sleepily at her retreating back. Either she was doing this on purpose, again, or she was being truly clueless about how much Luke did not want to be alone with Elliot. Well. He didn't have to play along with her games. Elliot had walked away from Luke so many times. For once, Luke could be the one to leave. He stood up and brushed flecks of ash out of his hair. 

"Luke?" Elliot had called him by his name again. Maybe he was too tired to think of other things to call him just now. Still, it was enough make Luke freeze. "I didn't mean to be too harsh. About the gifts. I just needed you to understand."

Luke's fingers tightened into fists. He thought he could trust that Elliot would never bring that up again. "You made yourself very clear. You always do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, no resolution yet. Why do you two have such bad communication habits!?
> 
> Happy Solstice, friends. 
> 
> Songs:  
> Christina Rossetti writes absolute bangers of poems, so shout out to both her and Holst for "In the Bleak Midwinter." It felt old and folksy enough to me to make the jump over the wall. 
> 
> Credit to Billy Squier for "Lonely is the night." I don't listen much to the kind of music that Elliot is an expert in, but this seemed like the kind of song her might know.


	11. Christmas

All Luke wanted for Christmas was for Elliot Schaefer to leave him alone. It was a dream that was not to be. 

Luke wasn't even pretending to practice the sword work he'd used as an excuse to skip Christmas breakfast. Now Elliot was standing in front of him, and it wouldn't do any good to pretend. "What are you doing here?"

Elliot looked around, frowning. "What are _you_ doing here? Everyone else is stuffing their faces with cinnamon-sugary baked goods and bacon, and you're lurking on the practice fields by yourself. I am not an expert, but I don't think that's what you're supposed to do on Christmas."

"Don't you have a strong objection to being up this early in the morning?"

"Yes," Elliot said. "Because it's still dark, and it's cold and damp, and my bed was just staring to feel warm. And yet here I am."

"It sounds like you have better places to be than here, then." Luke didn't want to play games with Elliot. He was too tired. Every sideways interaction he had with Elliot right now hurt. 

"I came to give you your Christmas present."

Luke opened his mouth to protest.

"I know," Elliot went on before Luke could speak. "It might seem ever-so-slightly hypocritical for me to be giving you a gift after refusing to accept the gift that you gave me."

Luke didn't speak, because that was exactly right. 

"I talked with Serene."

Luke squeezed his sword, wondering if he could use it to create a diversion. The idea of Serene and Elliot discussing him caused a sharp jab of panic. Instead of concocting a clever, sword-related plan that could get him out of this conversation, Luke made the mistake of looking up at Elliot.

No. Luke couldn't run from this. When Elliot looked as uncertain and misplaced as he did at the moment, Luke didn't want to leave. He wanted to fix it. 

"I told Serene what an idiot I was being. That I kept thinking the gifts meant that you cared about me, even though I know for a fact that you don't really, She told me that I was being a different kind of idiot. In a very calm Serene manner." Elliot laughed. "Hah, a pun. A serene manner."

"What is your point?" Luke didn't mean to sound upset. He wanted Elliot to get this off his chest and go off to breakfast. Did Elliot have to engage in wordplay in the midst of raking Luke's motivations over the coals?

Elliot took a deep breath. "The point: I thought I got some silly scrap of affection and turned it into something much bigger than it was meant to be, which, if you can believe it, is an issue I need to guard against. So I guarded. Serene seemed to think I wasn't misunderstanding. That you actually meant..."

Elliot just stopped there, like he had run out of whatever fueled him, and Luke let out a grunt of frustration. "That I meant what, Elliot? Meant to try to make you happy? That I care about you? Yes, fine. I know that for you it's all business and alliances, but that's just not the way I work. You matter to me. So?"

"Thank you." Elliot smiled like winter sunrise, and it sent a tremor through Luke.

"I thought you didn't want any of that from me." Luke hated sounding like the bitter one. Especially now that Elliot was smiling. But _why_ was Elliot smiling? What was there to celebrate about Luke being all alone in this?

Elliot went on smiling. "Since we're being honest, I had to privately admit to myself that you were my friend several years ago. Actually, I had to admit that to Commander Woodsinger as well, but she was pressing me for answers."

"What?"

Elliot grimaced. "I enjoy you and care about your well-being." Elliot's eyes fluttered across Luke's face, like he was judging just how much was safe to say, ad then he took a gulp of breath and rushed, "You're one of the people I love. I didn't think those feelings would be returned. I'm not someone easy to enjoy. Or care about. Let alone love. And then, out of nowhere, you started showering me with these gifts. Gifts that made me think you actually knew who I was and weren't going to use it as a reason to leave."

Luke barely kept himself for laughing. Leave? As if he could just escape Elliot's gravity like that. 

"I wanted to give you something too. But you've had years of giving gifts to the people you care about. It's your native language, and I'm just trying to put the words together as I go. But that traditionally hasn't stopped me from trying. So."

Elliot's hands came out from behind his back, and he held the gift out in front of him, keeping his eyes fixed on it. 

Luke took it in both hands and looked down at it, startled. It wasn't wrapped. There was no moment for things to be hidden and then revealed. It was just nakedly itself. A knife: beautifully crafted, with a mid-length blade and a bone handle. Luke had never seen Elliot hold a weapon for this long. 

"Why?"

Elliot shifted. "Why what?"

"You hate weapons. The last time someone let you get near the knives, you threw them all over camp. I can't believe you were even able to carry this over here without getting the urge to fling it off a hill."

Elliot let out a puff of air. "The sooner you take it, the less likely I am to snap and do something dangerous with your Christmas gift."

"Right." Luke took it, because he knew a veiled threat from Elliot when he heard one. "And you're giving me a knife, even though you think they're stupid, because...."

"You don't think they're stupid." Elliot's hands were empty again, and for a moment it looked like he wasn't sure what to do with them. "I might not say positive things about them very often, but I know. A knife can be used for hurting or killing. But people use knives in medicine, too, and crafting. I know they're not only good for one thing. I know what they're worth." Elliot laughed nervously. "So here's your symbolically laden Christmas present! Am I doing it right?"

Luke took the blade and turned it over in his hands. "Exactly right. Thank you."

He wanted to make a gesture to show his thanks, but he wasn't sure how to do it. Not when it came to Elliot. He slid the knife into a leather pouch at his side and stood there with hands just as empty and uncertain as Elliot's. 

But then Elliot was the one who moved, his hands lifting as he stepped forward. There was a moment their eyes met, Elliot searching to make sure the motion was alright, and then he was pulling Luke against him, and almost without realizing what he was doing, Luke's arms moved in response, wrapping around Elliot and holding him in place. Elliot's head pressed against Luke just where his shoulder met his neck, and it sent a shiver down Luke's spine. 

He knew, on some level, that kissing was supposed to be the more romantic, more special gesture. He knew he _wanted_ to kiss Elliot. But he hadn't realized how hungry he was for this embrace. He'd wanted the tightness of Elliot's arm, the little puff of breath against his neck. This was close in a way Luke had not calculated, a way he hadn't known to expect.

His face was near Elliot's ear, the perfect position to make sure it was clear. "I meant it. The gifts. Everything. I meant it."

Elliot nodded, wordless, against Luke's neck, and Luke had to wonder if it was as hard for Elliot to talk around the emotions as it was for Luke. There was more to say, he knew. He wasn't sure if Elliot meant the same shape and kind of love as Luke did. There would be so many more opportunities for both of them to try to say what they meant and do it wrong and get hurt.

But for the moment, it was simple. Here. I love you, and I want you to have this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and for those who shared kudos ad comments, you all make my days merry and bright. <3   
> I hope everyone has a beautiful finish to the holiday season and that next year holds lots of good things for all of you!


End file.
